So I got a BSOD in Windows 7 Home....

[Steve]

I can't recall the entire thing for the moment, but I remember it did a drive check and told me to run /chkdsk /f.

Well, when I rebooted it and went into safe mode to run, I'd forgotten the final letter and ran a normal chkdsk, which came up with some volume error and told me to run /chkdsk /f. I did... and it said it couldn't access and would do it at restart. So I restarted. And the PC promptly went through startup and brought me back to Windows like it always does. I ran chkdsk again and this time it found no errors.

So, to make sure, do I have anything to worry about? Last year I got some BSODs, different text I'm positive of, and the result was finding out my HDD was dying. Do I have to fear anything similar here?

[White Haven]

Without the error code off the bluescreen, there's not enough information to give you a good answer. If you can find an entry in the Event Viewer that matches up with the timestamp of the crash, you may be able to grab the error code out of that. That said, if it recommended a chkdsk, there's a very real chance that it's warning you of possible hard drive failure. Just in case, make sure your data is backed up if it's not already, and then look into downloading and burning a diagnostic disc from your drive manufacturer to test it.

[Steve]

I don't have any blank discs to burn unfortunately. And looking in Event Viewer all it showed is that the computer was shut down unexpectedly.

Hrm, the closest I could find was a "bugcheck" error:

"The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x00000024 (0x00000000001904fb, 0xfffff8800ce989f8, 0xfffff8800ce98250, 0xfffff880016e37ea). A dump was saved in: C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP. Report Id: 080414-15381-01."

[TheFeniX]

I don't know many disks sold that aren't SMART capable, so you can try the windows command, then check 3rd party programs to test your disk. You can also try finding the HDD utilities for your specific make/model of HDD and run those.

Sometimes you get bad files/cluster on a drive. It's a lot rarer in Windows 7 and with newer HDDs, but it does happen. If you're getting some more than once in a blue-moon, that's usually an indicator of a dying drive in my experience.

[Steve]

Lst night's the first time I saw it. But I just had this drive installed last September under warranty after I had the first HDD in this PC die on me after just 14 months, so I'm paranoid.

[Steve]

I don't know many disks sold that aren't SMART capable, so you can try the windows command, then check 3rd party programs to test your disk. You can also try finding the HDD utilities for your specific make/model of HDD and run those.

Sometimes you get bad files/cluster on a drive. It's a lot rarer in Windows 7 and with newer HDDs, but it does happen. If you're getting some more than once in a blue-moon, that's usually an indicator of a dying drive in my experience.

I used the command prompt method that your link described, all returns were OK.

[TheFeniX]

SMART isn't bullet-proof as (from what I know) it just looks to see if your drive has thrown enough errors for it to toggle "maybe you should replace this drive" to "1." A positive result makes drive replacement a definite must. But a negative result doesn't really prove anything. If this is the only problem you've had with the drive, you may be in the clear. You can always run another chkdsk /f every few days to make sure you aren't getting anymore bad files/clusters. Manufacturer diagnostics are also the way to go since they'll actually test the drive, but I wouldn't go as far as doing a full scan for bad sectors unless you've had other issues..... or you're bored.

As always, the importance of your data dictates how paranoid you should be.

[Steve]

I've got some of my "want to keep this absolutely" data on Dropbox, and some older stuff is on an older computer of mine in the closet.

If I have the funds I'll buy a pack of DVD-Rs to write some stuff I know I want to keep onto some DVDs as backup, but I don't have any blanks ATM and my budget for the next two weeks is... well, non-existant, as I just had to pay rent and what I have left will be going into gas.

[Edi]

DVD-Rs are a bad idea. They can die in as little as a year and a half if the metal layer oxidizes. You're far better off using good quality USB memory or an external hard drive (cheaper per gigabyte and lasts longer). See venting thread for what happened to me yesterday...

[White Haven]

That stop code refers to NTFS file system damage, which can be caused by a failing hard drive, or it can be caused by simple file system corruption. Given that it's not happening all the time, whatever it is is in its infancy. Double-check your backups, make sure there's nothing you'd be too broken up to lose, so on and so forth, and if it happens again I recommend using /r instead of /f on chkdsk -- it's a more thorough repair, and includes the /f fixes as well.

[Lord Revan]

when I was getting my previous PC repaired (and eventually replaced with my current one) I was told that a BSOD is generally caused By a hardware issue instead of a software one and that system did have Win7

[Steve]

DVD-Rs are a bad idea. They can die in as little as a year and a half if the metal layer oxidizes. You're far better off using good quality USB memory or an external hard drive (cheaper per gigabyte and lasts longer). See venting thread for what happened to me yesterday...

I have a very limited budget, DVD-Rs may be the only option I have financially.

[Edi]

32 GB USB sticks cost less than 20 bucks, or should. That's about six or seven DVD's worth of data and if you can buy a box of no-brand DVDs for the same price, they will be of the crappy quality that has a higher risk of deterioration. Of course, I might be mistaken because I'm not familiar with the price of things where you live, but just yesterday I bought 8 GB USB sticks for a fiver apiece.

Optical media is seriously expensive per gigabyte.

[Steve]

Hrm. I'll have to look into it.

[White Haven]

when I was getting my previous PC repaired (and eventually replaced with my current one) I was told that a BSOD is generally caused By a hardware issue instead of a software one and that system did have Win7

'A BSOD' doesn't exist. Different error codes have different possible causes, some very precise, some so broad as to be meaningless.

[Batman]

20 bucks gets me approximately 235GB worth of DVD-Rs but Edi is right about them not being particularly reliable. If and when you can afford it an external HDD is probably the most economical option.

[TheFeniX]

You can get 1TB HDDs in the $50 range now. They're the cheaper ones I wouldn't necessarily use for everyday work, but if you're backing up once a month (or whatever) and let it sit in a drawer when not in use, the shelf-life far exceeeds that of DVD-Rs. Hell, I've got old 8GB HDDs that still have intact data on them. Going further, 3.5" HDD USB enclosures are like $10-20 if you don't feel like cracking your PC open for a backup.